A replica of the Revolutionary War gunboat USS Philadelphia will be assembled at the new NY Experience: Maritime History area at the 2017 New York State Fair in Syracuse, NY. Credit: New York Sea Grant

Contacts:

Dave White, New York Sea Grant Recreation and Tourism Specialist, E: dgw9@cornell.edu, P: 315.312.3042

Kara Lynn Dunn, Publicist, E: karalynn@gisco.net, P: 315.465.7578

Syracuse, NY August 15, 2017 - New York State Fair opening day visitors will be able to see a replica of the gunboat USS Philadelphia that carried General Benedict Arnold and his Continental Army troops in 1776 during the Revolutionary War rebuilt in just one day, Wednesday, August 23.

The shipbuilding demonstration is part of the new path through Our Maritime History: Waterways of War exhibit coordinated by New York Sea Grant as part of the new NY Experience: Maritime History showcase, located next to the new retention pond, at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse, NY. The exhibit opens daily at 10 am.

Erich Tichonuk, co-executive director of the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Vergennes, VT, will lead the assembly of the replica of the oldest surviving American fighting naval vessel.  The original Philadelphia was discovered in Lake Champlain in 1935 and is now housed at the National Museum of American History in Washington, DC.

Throughout the Fair, the exhibit will include the completed Philadelphia replica; daily wooden boat building demonstrations; a new Shipwreck Shack with a display on the proposed Great Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary project; a new Boating and Buoys Shack with information on current era boating; the 2017 New York Sea Grant Clean and Safe Boating educational vessel, an 18-foot made-in-NY pontoon with an electric motor; the Great Lakes Research Consortium 24-7 sensing buoy transmitting data; and Great Lakes Research Consortium in-water remotely operated vehicle demonstrations in the retention pond.

Learn more at www.nyseagrant.org/shipwrecks.

More Info: NYSG at New York State Fair

SPONSORS: The Path through Our Maritime History: Waterways of War exhibit is coordinated by New York Sea Grant in cooperation with the New York State Fair, Great Lakes Seaway Trail, Great Lakes Research Consortium, H. Lee White Maritime Museum, US Coast Guard Auxiliary, Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, and the I Love NY Path Through History.

BOAT BUILDING DEMOS: SUNY Oswego students led by H. Lee White Maritime Museum volunteer Richard Bush will demonstrate wooden boat building daily in 45-minute sessions at 11 am, 1 pm, and 3 pm daily as part of The Path through Our Maritime History: Waterways of War exhibit. Completed boats will be on display; when the newly built boats are completed they will be launched in the retention pond at the Fair.

SHIPWRECK SHACK and NMS: The new Shipwreck Shack that is part of The Path through Our Maritime History: Waterways of War exhibit coordinated by New York Sea Grant will featured the proposed Great Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary project. For the first time in nearly 20 years the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration opened the application for new National Marine Sanctuary nominations to add to the 14 established NMS areas in the world. Wayne, Cayuga, Oswego, and Jefferson counties have applied for NMS status for the southeastern area of Lake Ontario.

SENSING BUOY: The Great Lakes Research Consortium 24-7 sensing buoy, in the retention pond at the NY State Fair, will transmit current wind, water, and air temperature conditions into one of the tents at the The Path through Our Maritime History: Waterways of War exhibit.

ROV DEMOS in POND: Great Lakes Research Consortium in-water remotely operated vehicle demonstrations will take place daily at 12 pm, 2 pm, and 4 pm at the retention pond. The Great Lakes Research Consortium, based at the College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY, is a consortium representing 18 colleges and universities in New York State plus 9 affiliate campuses in Ontario, Canada.


More Info: New York Sea Grant

New York Sea Grant (NYSG), a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York, is one of 33 university-based programs under the National Sea Grant College Program (NSGCP) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The NSGCP engages this network of the nation’s top universities in conducting scientific research, education, training and extension projects designed to foster science-based decisions about the use and conservation of our aquatic resources. Through its statewide network of integrated services, NYSG has been promoting coastal vitality, environmental sustainability, and citizen awareness about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources since 1971.

New York Sea Grant maintains Great Lakes offices at SUNY Buffalo, the Wayne County Cooperative Extension office in Newark and at SUNY Oswego. In the State's marine waters, NYSG has offices at Stony Brook University and Stony Brook Manhattan, in the Hudson Valley through Cooperative Extension in Kingston and at Brooklyn College. 

For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org has RSS, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube links. NYSG produces a monthly e-newsletter, "NOAA Sea Grant's Social Media Review," via its blog, www.nyseagrant.org/blog. Our program also offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/coastlines for its flagship publication, NY Coastlines/Currents, which is published 1-2 times a year.